Improvement in pressing cotton and other substances into bales



6 Sheets-Sheet 1 SsA. CLEMENS. .PRBSSING BUTTON-AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTQ BALES. N6. 7,612. PaJtentad Sept. 3, 1850.

' Fig.1.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

.. S. A CLEMENS.

M' PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES.

N0. 7,612. Patented Sept. 3, 1850.

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

s. A. CLEMENS. PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES. No. 7,612. Patented Sept, 3; 1850.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 SJ A. CLEMENS. -v PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES. N0. 7,612. Patmlted Sept. 3, 1850.

6 Sheets-Sheet '5.

S. ACLEMENS. PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES. ,7 No. 7,612. Patented Sept...- 3, 1850.

6 Sheets--Sheet 6.

vS. A. CLEMENS. PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES.

No. 7,612.. Patented Septa3, 1850.

- ing drawings,

packed and pressed by .tion to be condensed intoa A'liiENT Fries,

s. AQCLEMENS, on GRANBY, counno'r cu'r.

"-| MPROVEMENT IN PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO BALES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7,682, dutcdSeptcmbcr 3, 1850.

:27) all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S. A. CLEMENS, o Granby, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and use ful method '01 baling and pressing cotton and other fibrous substances, .such as wool, fur, flax, and hemp, and which may also be applied to the packing and pressing of hides, leather,

rags, hay, and other substances; and'I do here .by declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes my invention from all other things before known, and of the method of making, constructing, andusing the same, reference being had to the accompanymaking part of this specification, in-whi Figure 1 is a plan, Fig. .2 a side elevation,

and Fig. 3 a longitudinal vertical section, of one of the modes in which I have applied the principle of my invention;

The same letters indicate like parts in all the 'figures.

Cotton and thev other substances above enumerated have always heretofore been pressure applied by a platen or follower directly to the whole mass. This of necessity requires great power, and if the substance or substances be matted and in uneven lumps the whole mass cannot be well condensed. v By my invention I am enabled" to condense the mass into a much smaller compass, and by much less power than heretofore,

Q while at the same time the substance or substances can be unpacked to more advantage for the purposes of manufacture, particularly when applied to cotton.

The first part of my invention consists in I packing the substances above enumerated and all others of a like character ina series of successive layers or. strata by,th e action of a roller or rollers, or cylinders' pr; curved or beveled faces on the surfacethereofl the pressure being in succession applied tovlone or more of such layersor strata, whereby thasubstance orsubstancestohepressedandpackedqaremore evenly distributed, and thereibrei lintacondi more compact mass and with less power, for the reason that the.

power is divided and applied by theQsurface of: the roller or rollers or. cylinders,-;or,their; equ valents, to a small portion of. the surface and Figs. 4,5, and, 6 are like representations of th mode f application. a o

of each layer or layers, instead of the whole mass at once.

' The second p'artof my invention, which relates to the means for applying the first part of my invention, consists in combining with rollers or cylinders or their equivalents for laying and compressing in successive layers or strata a bed which shall recedc from the surface of the. rollersor cylinders as the layers'or strata accumulate, and which either traverses back and forth under them, or over which they traverse from end to end to. distribute the layers or strata.

"The third part of my invention consists in combining with a press forpacking andpressing substances in successive layers or strata,

- by means otrollers or. cylinders or their equivalent-s, a lappingmiachine for laying or forming the fibroussubstanceor substances to be packed into a lap or laps preparatory to the operation of laying and-pressing,

, The fourth part of myinventiou consists in combining with each oft-he laying ,and compressing rollersor their equivalents a series of rollers or their.equivalents-forretaining the 1 layers in their compressed state as the bed traverses under them. I The fifth part of my invention consists in making the bed ofthe press without sides or ends, to admit of the traversing motion for by ing an'dthc depressing motion for yieldingas the substance is puckcrhand to give free ac: cess to the ends and sides for baling, in combination with carriage which isprovided with the requisite means for giving the required movements, the said carriage being 'providedwith end plates to adjust the ends of the layers or strata as they are laid and pressed;

and the last part of my invention consists in combining, with the end plates attached to the I v an appropriate frame, which may, however,

gb e varied at the discretion of the constructor, Landb a carriage adapted to slide longitudinallybctwecn the sides thereof. This carriage is a quadrangular l'rmne, the bars 0 cot which project beyond the ends, with their under edges vfiat and straight, to run on truck-rollers (I,

' of which the carriage receives its reciprocating movements, in manner to be hereinafter described.

I The frame of the carriage carries four vertical screws, h. 1;. h- It, arranged near the four corners, the said screws being proyided wit-hjonrnals near their upper'ends,fitted to turn in appropriate boxes secured to the carriage-frame. The upper ends of these screws have bevelpinions i 'i -i -i, which are engaged by corresponding pinions, j j jj, on two line-shafts, k k, whiclrhave their hearings in the end pieces of the carriage-frai'ne, and which projectheyond them and carry other bevel-pinions, Z-l Z I,

which engage corresponding pinions, m m mm, on two eross-shaits, n a, one at each end, so as to gear together the four shafts," that all may turn in unison, and thereby cause the four screws to turn in unison also.

The bed 0 of the pres properly grooved to receive the cords, hoops, or other means for tying up the bales, is secured to the top of a plate, 1), or made part thereof, the four 'eorners of which are threaded to fit into the four screws, sothat as these are turned to the right or left the said bed is elevated ordepressed. The two cross-shafts 'na each carry a toothed or ratchet wheel, :1 q, the cogs of which, as the carriage reciprocates, alternately strike two handsor catches, a- 9', attached to the frame, and thus turn the system of pinions and shafts, and by themthe four screws by which the bed is depressed at each operation the distance required for one layer. For the purpose of elevating or depressing the bed independently of the reciprocating motion of the carriage, which is required at each complete operation, one of the cross-shaftsn is geared with ashort shaft, s, provided at its outer end with a crankhandle or winch, t. The bed can be carried up by the four screws so high as to come in contact with the periphery of the two cylinders, and down so low as to discharge freely a halo of the required size after it has been packed thereon: The two cylinders are placed sufficiently far apart to leave a space between them for the free passage of a lap of the substance or substances to be packed. Outside of the two cylinders, and on the samehorizontal plane as the lower part thereof, there are two series of rollers, w u, arranged in parallel lines,with their peripheries nearly touchin They have each a pinion, 'v, on one end, the cogs of which engagethe racks on the carnage,

are arranged alternately on opposite eiids, and the diameters-of the rollers and cylinders must be the same as the pitch-line of their cog wheels and pinions, so that they shall move with the same velocity as theearriage. J nst above the space'bctween the two cylinders there is a main shalt, 'u', having its hearings in the side frames, and this shaft carries two cog-wheels which engage and turn the two cog-wheels on the two cylinders; and on the outer end of thismain shaft there is a manglewheel, in, of theusual construction, operated by a triangle-pinion, out-he driving-shaftz, which carries thedriving-pulley. By the continuous rotation of the driving-shaft the mangle-wheel gives the required reciprocating rotary motion to the cylindeis and rollers,

and rectilinear to the carriage and bed,in con sequence of which the carriage and bed irav-. erse back and forth their whole length under the cylinders and rollers, which have a rolling action on the surface of the bed, or any sub stance placed thereon.

At each end of the carriage there is aplate,

a, laid on the top thereof. and .held in place by turn-buttons b b'-. The inner edges of these plates serve the purpose of adjusting the edges of the lap as it is. folded over at each mot-ion of the carriage, and at each end of the frame, just below each series of rollers, there is a permanent plate, 0' a, so located that toward the end of each motion of the carriage oneof the adj listing-plates passes under one of them, and in contact wit-hit, to push within its inner edge any portion of the substance to be packed which may have lodged on the surface of the:

adjusting-plate, which, if not remorethwould in a short time clog the operation of the machine, and finally break it. v

\Vithin a cylindrical casing, d, placed above the machine and i-nfront of the main shaft, thereis a cylinder, 6, made of wire-gauze'or perforated sheet metal,hu n g on a hollow shaft, j", that turns on an inner shaft, 9',- 'which has its hearings in theside frames. The inner shaft carries an exhausting-Ian, h, of the usual constructiolnwhich is rotated by'a band pass ing around a pulley, j, from some first mover, that. it may rotate with suflicient velocity to exhaust the inside of the perforated cylinder, which is turned with a slow motion by atrain of wheels and pinions, Z' m a 0, deriving motion from the driving-shaft. The casing of the lap-cylinder has a large opening, 1), in front, to receive cotton or other fibers from a cotton-gin or other picker, and a narrow opening, g, on the opposite side, in'front of which is placed a pair of rollers, 13 r, geared together at one end by two pinions, 8'8, and the upper one having a -like pinion, 1, on' the opposite end, which engages the cog-wheel ()"011' the shaft of the pe'rlbratei'l cylinder by which the rollers are operated.

when the machine is used for packing,

pressing, and baling cotton-' the purpose for.

,which it was mainlyintended-it is'so located so as to be turned thereby. The said pinions-i relatively to a cotton-gin that the fillers of ,rme a fcotton' i'rom the brush oi'the gin will be throw in through the aperture or opening onto the surface of the perforated cylinder as it rotates v slowly, and there held by the pressure of air due to the exhaustion of the cylinder inside, thus forminga lap of cotton, which is drawn out partly condensed by the two rollersr' 1. From these the lap of cotton is carried through the space between the two laying and pressing "cylinders onto the bed oof the carriage, on which has previously been placed the piece of canvas 01'' othercloth for making the bale,with" the ropes or hoops for binding up the bale lyi ng in the grooves. by the carriage the lap of cotton is carried along between the bed and the'rolling surface of one of the cylinders. and is there laid the whole'length of the bed and compressed. At

the end' of motion the lap of cotton is car l ed against the inner edge of one of the ad j listing-plates a. The motion of the carriage is thenrcve'rsedby the shifting of the manglemotion, asalso the cylinders, which folds the lap over-and carries it under the other, cylinder, to :lay and press the second "layer onto the first, and so layer after layer nntil .the thickncss required for a bale .has been obtained.

Atthe end of each operation the bed is let down to anextent equal to the thickness of a compressed layer of lap by the turning of the four screws simultaneously as one of the ratchet-wheelsyon lane of the cross-shafts strikesone oil the 'catehesor hands r 1'. So soon as the thickness required for abale has been obtained thcmachine is stopped atthe end of one of thetraverse motions, thelap is cut ofi, and then one oftheadiustingplates is removed. *One end' -,of a piece of canvas for the. top of the bale,

with the ropes or hoops, is passed througlnin the same manner as a lap,asuiiicient distance over .the edge of the bale to be attached to thecanvas and ropes or hoops for the bottom: lhe carriageis then traversed once, the other inljusting-plate removed, and the other end of ,1 he canvas and ropes or hoops passed through over the other edge of the bale, to be secured tothc botto1'n canvas.&c., at this end to complete 1 the bale. The bedois then let down byturning the handle or winch t and the bale discharged.

- 'lhe bed is then carried up. by-the. handle or winch tothe required distance from the bottom of the cylinders, to receive and press the .'.1t1st.,lap. of anotherrbale, Asthe laps are snc- :ccssively laid and compressed by the cylinders, they are retained in their compressed state'by the series of rollers beyond the cylindcrs,- which thus constitute continlious and rolling platens; but at the end of each motion of thecarriag'e, when the lap is turned over, some portions of it are liable to remain on the npper'suri ace of the adjusting plates, and when-on the return motion these adjusting-plates pass under the stationary plates 0' c, attaehed to the frame, all that lies on the surface of the adjusting-plates is pushed off within their inner edges, and thus all tend- As thebed is moved along cncy i0 clog or choke the operation of the machine is removed.

Before introducing the canvas, &-c., forthe top of the bale, the adj listing-plates must be removed to admit of the insertion of the canvas, do, and for that reason theyare made movable, as above specified. are successively compressed by the rolling action of the cylinders, they have no tendency Figs. 4, 5, and 6, which only differ from the mode above described indispensing with the exhausting apparatus for making the lap and substituting the ordinary lapping-cylinder 1", in bringing the two laying and pressing cylinders. snfliciently close together to make them answer the additional purpose of the two con- As the laps (lensing-rollers r 1, Figs. 1, 2,- and 3, in..

whicheasethe carriage-is driven directly by a pinion, a", on the mangle-shaft, which meshes into the .cogs of the rack on the carriage, and the cylinders at one end are geared together "to. move in opposite directions, and one 01 them has a large cog-wheel, I)", on one end, which is dr1venby'a pinion, c, on the drivingshaft; and this mode also differs in sub I stituting for the two series of rollers a a two permanent plates, 11-. a, to retain the layers of laps-in a compressed state after passing underthe laying and compressing cylinders.

-'It will be obvious fronr the foregoing-that substituted for those represented in the accompanying drawings, and that when the general principle of my invention is applied to the iacking' and pressing of substances which cannot be formed into a lap by the same means as cotton, then the lapping cylinder is to be dispensed with, and such other method adopted of forming a lap is to be substituted as will be applicable to this purpose, or such substance or substances may be prepared by hand. andmdelivered to the. laying and pressing cylinders.

I have above described and pointed out the modes of applying my invention, which I have essayed with success as applied to the packing and pressing of cotton; but it will beobvious that these may be greatly varied without going beyond the limits of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to confine myself to these special modes. Nor do 'I wish to limit myself to the employment of the general and first part of my invention in connection with the other parts of my invention, as they (the other parts) are only subordinate to and rc-- any. other mode of making the lap may be late merely to the modes "\rhich l hare ifivented forpractically applying the chief principle of my invention, which'is specified as constituting the first part thereof. TNor, in short, do I wish to be understood as limiting myself to the use of all the subordinate'parts of my-inventionin 'conneetionga-abinsome-4m sta-nces some of these may be dispensed with. \Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The method of packing and compressing I substances into'bales or packages in a series of layers, a lapping, apparatus for .l'orming such substance or substances into a lap or laps, to be delivered to'the rollers or' cyl inders, or their equivalents, tov be laid and pressed'into the bed, substantially as described.

4'. 1 combination with the laymg and compressing cylinders: or their equivalents, the

series,of...ml1ers,.nr .theireqnivalcntsjdt. lei

taining the layers or strata as they are successively compressed, substantially as speci- 6. -In combination with the adjusting-plates at the ends of the carriage, the stationaryplates at the ends of the frame, under which.

the adjusting-plates pass to remove any substance that may have accumulated on them,

substantially as described.

' S. A. CLEMENS.

.Witnesses:

ALEX. PORTER BRQWNE, (nus. TBRoWNE.

5. The bed made without sides ore'nds, sub-.- stantiallyas' and for the purpose specified, in combination with the carriage provided with I adjusting-plates at the ends, for the purpose and in the manner substantially as described.- 

